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Pawar vows to teach Kalmadi a lesson

Michael Gonsalves in Pune

Sharadchandra Govind Pawar, founder-president of the Nationalist Congress Party, today declared that his party and its allies would form the next government in Maharashtra.

"You will see surprising poll results. We will prove our blind critics and opinions polls, which have placed our party third in Maharashtra [after the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and the Congress], wrong," Pawar told rediff.com in Pune district on the last leg of his election campaign in the state.

Pawar said he expects 22 per cent of the 43 per cent votes the united Congress polled in the state in 1998. "And out of the 42 per cent polled by the Sena-BJP alliance, the NCP will get 10 per cent from the Sena and 3 to 4 per cent from the BJP. Thus the NCP will end up polling 35 per cent of the votes, besides 2 per cent of the RPI, while the Sena-BJP alliance's polling percentage will be reduced to 28. The Congress will have to settle for 21 per cent and an additional 3 to 4 per cent of RPI votes," he predicted.

But the wily politician avoided translating this prediction into number of seats. "It is too early to say anything," he said.

"As far as the Lok Sabha polls are concerned, the NCP will bag the maximum number of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. The exact number will be clear only after the second phase of polling," Pawar, who has virtually put his 33-year political career on the line by revolting against Sonia Gandhi, said.

Asked if he had not risked his political life by taking on the Congress president, Pawar shot back: "How long can one tolerate a foreigner staking her claim for prime ministership without political maturity? My decision was hardly a matter of my career, but my conviction that enough was enough and that the time is ripe to give the voters a proper alternative."

The street-smart Pawar has left no stone unturned for the success of his new party, addressing a whopping 250 election rallies in various parts of the state over a hectic 26-day campaign. No other politician in Maharashtra, including BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, has come anywhere near him in the capacity to draw large crowds.

"It is clear that there is a sharp reaction among the voters against Sena-BJP rule. They [the voters] are moving with a minority mind-set. You know, the minorities do not decide at first which party to support. They only decide whom to defeat. It is then that they support a party that they think is capable of doing that job. And the NCP fits the bill perfectly to defeat the Congress and the saffron alliance," he claimed.

Pawar said the charge that he would join up with the BJP after the poll was but an attempt to cut into his votes. "Both the Congress and the BJP have panicked at the NCP's poll prospects. I have repeatedly made it clear that my party will not join hands with the BJP. They are all hypocrites. Otherwise how could the Congress, BJP and Sena jointly sponsor one candidate against my nephew Ajit in the Baramati assembly constituency?"

On the outcome of the Pune Lok Sabha constituency, Pawar said: "Vitthal Tupe will teach Suresh Kalmadi a lesson by retaining the seat with a large margin. Kalmadi has no idea what he is up against."

On supporting the Congress if it falls short of a majority to form the next government at the Centre, he said: "I want to state on record that we will not support any party or front led by Sonia Gandhi."

And what about the Congress without Gandhi? "It is difficult to answer this question. I alone cannot take the decision. I will have to consult all my allies like the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal, the RPI, Samajwadi Party and Swatantra Bharat Party [led by farm leader Sharad Joshi].

On BJP politician Pramod Mahajan comparing him to Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor, Pawar said, "I do not want to comment on this. They are all third-class people. I can take any criticism on policy matters. But such third-rate statements against me and Sonia Gandhi show his culture and desperation. Moreover, it points to his dirty mind," Pawar quipped.

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